In praise of skipping
 

I just learned to skip today. After hearing people talk about how much better it was to stop by skipping over skidding for months, I finally gave it a go. Hop with the clips, and the wheel stops in the air. When you touch down, it slows you down a lot. Three skips in a row brings me to a near stop in just 1.5 turns of the pedals. Plus, it's fun to do. If you haven't tried doing it, I recommend it. I use clipless pedals, and that seems to make it easy.

i agree, skipping is super fun. of course, part of that is that i'm not super good at skidding...

i accidently skipped today while trying far too hard to skid, and it was very effective :)

I can skid, but I can't skip. But if we were to double dutch...well, you'd have me beat there too!;) I know skipping involves lifting the rear wheel off the ground, but I can't seem to do it. Maybe it's being scared to pitch myself over the bars trying to unweight the back wheel enough to lift it.

you don't have to get very far over the bars to skip. a great way to learn is to find a curb and ride over it, while imagining that your rear tire is low, and you don't want to get a pinch-flat or dent your rim.

it should come pretty naturally to try to hop the rear, and once you know what that feels like, you're 90% there.

Yeah, once you get it you don't even need to get out of the seat to do it.
Like most things fixed gear, it's just a matter of practice then an "a-ha!" moment.

for skipping, think of one tiny, awkward little skid... 180 degrees of the pedal later, do it again, other foot forward. when you do it repeatedly, especially down a hill in the rain, the motion of your feet actually look like you're skipping--as in, loo, loo, skip to my loo, skip to my loo, my darling. and it feels like that, too. it will get smoother as you practice.

it's so much more controlled than skidding (for me), and a hell of a lot easier than trying to skid with my drops on--i keep on falling when i try that ****.

Are you running clipless pedals? That's the only reason I can do it. I loves the clipless, because I'm not coordinated enough to tighten up clips and straps to the point of being able to pull up. If you've got the cages, make sure they are super tight.

dolface... I can hop up curbs fairly easily. Myabe I'll pretend I'm hopping a curb.

hyperRevue...that "a-ha" moment...which part of the "Take on Me" video does that take place in?

queerpunk... maybe I should be singing "Skip to my Lou" as I practice?

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll be sure to practice today in the rain.

duh! maybe that's why you didn't get it before...

This makes me thankful for the many years of racing BMX. Skipping, bunny-hops, broncos, all come naturally, no matter if I'm rockin' the fixie or the MTB. I am even running BMX platform pedals on the fixie and still find it easy to skip. Rock on wit my bad self...

If you imagine that you are on a pogo stick doing little hops it is kinda a similiar motion to do skip stops. The amount of weight you have to take off the rear wheel is not that much because you have forward momentum working with you. I agree with Aeroplane that clipless pedals make it way easier to do. It helps to take away any play in the pedals with your feet.

I've never lifted my rear wheel when skipping and I don't know what you guys are talking about. For me skipping is a bunch of little skids done every 1/2 rotation of the cranks.

It's either when the racer bad guy comes after our hero with the
spanner, or when the heroin is in the diner having coffee. . .

yeah, me too. but i think a way to learn is to conceptualize them, one at a time, as little pseudo-hops, then scrubbing the wheel down. once somebody gets that out of the way, then they can get the skipping--every 1/2 rotation--to be smoothe.

i thought it was when he goes through the mirror....

that's not skipping then. it's still skidding.

with skipping you don't even have to wait every half rotation. when i pick the wheel off the ground it and put it back down, my pedals have rotated slightly backwards. i can then continue to skip with my feet in the same position.

for me, this is the best way to tackle a really steep, short descent.

Well then I don't care for skipping.

well, then i don't care for you!

:p

it good to see beginners finding their nitch..practice,pratice.

habitus, it is but not prefected yet with smaller rotations.
they are just finding it give them time.

S/F,
CEYA!

DON'T TAKE WHAT I SAID OUT OF CONTEXT.

????

S/F<
CEYA!

yeah.. I think the first few times I did it my wheel may have left the ground slightly, but the more I do it the more I realize I don't have to unweight the rear so much. Just lock up the wheel every time my feet are level(ish).

I can back pedal slightly sometimes by doing this also, without having my rear wheel leave the ground. Generally only when the road is wet though.

The "hopping up a curb" analogy is perfect.

I'd been doing that for a while, but I considered that still skidding. When I skipped yesterday, there wasn't nearly as much noise from tire-road friction.

Plus, it felt like I was really skipping, like what kids (okay, me too) will do when they are happy. Half-crank, little hop. Half-crank, little hop.

interesting.. maybe I'm not trying hard enough. Damn laziness! :)

I wonder if some of the debate isn't merely semantics. I mean, as long as you stop before the intersection, who cares what you call it?